Landlord and carpet.

[unluckycarpet]

I recently moved out of a rather large apartment. I did my part to clean the whole apartment and cleaned the carpet with a home carpet cleaner. I turned in the keys and received a message at home telling me that I would have to pay damages. I went to the manager to see what they were. There were some pet stains in the den (9'X10') which she said could not be removed. I asked her how much it would cost to replace the carpet in the den. She replied that the entire carpet would need replaced (about 1100 sq. ft)and proceed to rip up the carpet in front of me and show me the backs of all of the carpet. Of course the carpet had water marks on it, I had cleaned it with Oxy Clean in which you saturate the stain in order to remove it, but she told me all of these for the whole apartment were pet stains.

I paid no pet deposit, however she does have a $250 deposit. I have lived in this apartment for 2 years. The property manager refused my offer to have the carpet professionally cleaned which would cost about $250. She told me they were replacing it anyway. She would split the costs with me based on a 7 year value, since I lived there for 2 it would be 5 years and they would cover the 2 years of the life of the carpet. I told her that I would not pay this and she told me that the corporate office would send me to collections. I have spoken with some people at carpet stores and they told me that there is no way this carpet could last in an apartment for 7 years.

Now my question...Do I leagally have to pay for the replacement of this carpet, without her ever even attempting to clean it first?

 

[Tracey]

There are a lot of issues here!

1. The manager has only claimed that your pet damaged the den, a 9x10' room. It is unreasonable for her to argue that it is necessary to replace 1100 sq.ft. of carpet when only 90 sq.ft. are damaged. I may be reading your facts incorrectly, however.

2. Was the carpet really damaged? How long had it been since you cleaned the carpet with OxyClean? Since the directions said to saturate the stain, any stained areas would have to be wetter than the rest of the carpet. Is it likely that what she identified as a stain was really only an area that hadn't dried yet? If she had waited, would the "stain" have disappeared? Demand that she save the carpet. Stains that only show on the carpet backing & don't cause an odor are not damage.

Also, were the stains so bad that the carpet had to be replaced, or could she have rented the apt as it was? If so, then she only gets 'diminution in value' damages - the difference between what normally worn carpets & your carpets are worth. In a rental, stained or damaged carpets cause a diminution in value only if they make it harder to re-rent the apt, or required L to rent the apt. for less money, or force L to replace the carpets sooner than usual. Stains so not effect carpet's functionality, so the only way she'd have to replace them sooner is if there was lingering pet odor.

3. Should she have tried professional cleaning first? I think so. A landlord MUST try to mitigate damages before suing a tenant. If you can get a carpet cleaning service to testify that they could have gotten the carpet clean for $250, her damages will be limited to $250 (plus costs).

4. Were your "damages" the reason she decided the carpet had to be replaced? If the carpet was scheduled for replacement after you moved out anyway, then you could paint it with rainbow stripes & not cause her any "damages." She hasn't incurred any costs she was not already going to have to pay! Your key evidence is the fact that the manager said they were replacing the carpet anyway. Did 'anyway' mean she had decided professional cleaning could not work, or that the apt was scheduled for rehab before she ever saw it? Key evidence here would be whether she had a new tenant lined up for the day after you left, or whether she hadn't even put the apt on the market yet. This is also where you have a carpet retailer testify that the carpet NEVER would have lasted 7 years. (My rental carpets last 4 months - 2 years.)

5. Has she properly preserved her right to go after you for ANY money? Most states have laws requiring landlords to submit an itemized list of damages within 7-30 days of the tenant moving out. If L doesn't send the list by that time, L loses any right to keep any of the damage deposit or sue T for damages. Many states go so far as to require L to refund double the deposit. Check with your local tenant's rights assn. for your state's laws. Don't tip L off until after the time limit has expired.

6. All L's collectors can do is call & write you once, at which point you dispute the validity of the debt and tell them not to contact you further. This forces L to sue and prove her damages in court.

7. Were the carpets new when you moved in? If not, how do we know YOUR pet caused all the stains she saw? The stains could have been there before, and your OxyClean just made them more prominent when wet.


Send her a formal letter (certified, return receipt), disputing the charges & demanding that she save the carpet to preserve the evidence. Make her give some to you too, so you can have your experts evaluate it. (stained & non-stained samples) If she fails to preserve the carpet, the judge may throw out her case for tampering with evidence.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.